Stix Zadinia

Today I got 'touched' by a motorcycle (I assume the driver was a male) who made a forbidden U-turn and was speeding, quite a lot. Fortunately I wasn't going slow either when crossing the street (by the appropriate bicycle ramps) so the guy wasn't able to run me over, but only for a fraction of a second (I slow down before crossing to check both ways, but then speed up when I'm actually crossing by a traffic light or the like.. makes sense to me not to be a sitting duck in the middle of the street).

About 6 months ago someone in a school van rushing to make a left turn ALSO touched my rear wheel; I had the right of way, that person must have been really distracted I guess. Neither time have I lost balance or anything, but they've managed to push the rear wheel somewhat to the side.

In BOTH cases the drivers didn't even attempt to slow down! it may be possible that the person in the van didn't see me, but this person on a motorcycle today DEFINITELY had to have seen me, there were NO visual obstacles whatsoever and in broad daylight.


Do things like this happen to you, too? (motor vehicles touching your rear wheel by the side without even attempting to slow down).
I think it's kind of weird that this has happened to me twice already.. or is it more frequent than one would like to believe?


Really don't know if there's a lot of absent-minded people out there on the streets, or is there a part of the population that are just THAT vicious towards cyclists?


Thanks for your opinions!

Stix Zadinia

Forgot to mention, the incident with the van happened amongst some traffic and it was in the afternoon (still the street crossing was well illuminated), the motorcycle today was in a totally clear day (Sunday), with no traffic whatsoever. Both times it happened in rather small, residential streets (no avenues), but neither time did they even attempt to stop to see what had happened, or even slow down after the fact!

GrouchoWretch

Must be an uptick in motorists smoking crack.

Luckily, driving a motorcycle recklessly tends to be a self-limiting activity.

gerv 

I almost got hit one day by a little old lady on a quiet residential street. She didn't twist the wheel enough to get her Avalon around the corner.

Motorists are often distracted or incapable.

Mumonkan

at least youve made it out without really getting hurt

friend of mine has been hit 3 times in the past few years, once pretty seriously landing himself in the hospital (was actually the fault of a golf kart on the west side greenway)

it takes a lot less ability to drive a car than it does to ride a bike in traffic, since we are moving slower and out in the elements it also keeps us more alert

a "luxury" motorists dont have to deal with

Burton

I'm guessing neither person had a clue they actually even touched you. The feedback you'd get through a 30 lb structure is very different that what someone would get from the same impact through a 550 lb or 2,500 lb structure. And there were obviously no visual clues since you didn't go down.

And its important to keep in mind that drivers behind wheels all have different abilities - even though the driving classification may be identical. Courteous drivers are a bonus - I love 'em!

Then there are the other ones - like the kid here who last week got nailed for going over 200kph on the highway in -20C weather no less.

A close second to the lady who managed to drive through the front door of the bank while attempting to park. Good thing those pillars are solid - I was in the vestibule with my bike at the time!

G1nko

99% of interactions with motorists can be explained by applying Hanlon's Razor.

droy45

No, I haven't even had a real close call yet, knock on wood. I think that little episode there would scare me off my bike for at least a week. Glad you were ok and it turned out uneventful.

Commodus

hrm, I don't think I could touch a bicycle while riding my motorbike and not know it.

Burton

As a former motorcycle rider - I almost agree with you. Thing is - I can't quite see how anyone could touch a bicycle while riding a motorcycle and move their rear wheel sidewise without knocking the bicyclist down either so 'touch' and 'move' may be very open to interpretation.

RobertFrapples

I had a guy break off his passenger side wing mirror on my elbow. If he noticed he did nothing to indicate it. Some people simply do not pay attention.

Mumonkan

Agreed, when i still had my motorcycle i was hyper sensitive to everything around me, i would never have gotten almost close enough to bump anything since that would generally indicate me falling and crashing

Stix Zadinia

I ask myself the same question, actually.. How is it that both times they knocked my rear wheel and I wasn't ejected from the bike! Mind you, they've only hit the very edge of it (no more than the last 20% of the rear wheel, I'd say). Maybe they've actually slowed down and I just haven't noticed? But in any case they went on their way, so I don't really think they did.. I just don't know if I've been incredibly lucky so far, or if this is something that has happened at least once to fellow riders.

And the thing is, this is not so much a matter of me being more cautious I think, or at least definitely NOT going slower. I DO slow down at the end of the bike path (before the traffic light or street crossing) so that I can take a look to see if anyone's coming, but once I take impulse to cross the street, I do it as fast as possible, which is actually what -oddly enough- has 'saved' me twice now. Had I been slower, I would have been completely run over by the school van, and the motorcycle would have sent me to the hospital at least, for sure.

Is there something I should improve upon? I don't really know what to work on right now, so that there's no third time.. I might not get so lucky again.

scroca

I can't help you. Practically nothing you've said has made any sense to me.

Stix Zadinia

I know I must be more cautious somehow. I'd appreciate suggestions/criticism.

Eh, preferably constructive.

unterhausen

the rear wheel of a bicycle doesn't have a lot of authority over the steering. Pretty sure I could ride out a collision where someone taco'ed my rear wheel.

Burton

Course there's always the possibility that if what you were riding even vaguely resembled your avatar - the drivers could have been wonen deliberately trying to turn you into road kill ....

Medic Zero

I had that happen once. Aggressive 18 year old driver tried to run me over. I was riding with four other cyclists on a four lane city street. I guess he didn't like us taking a lane as he refused to go around us in the perfectly empty lane next to us and kept honking his horn, flashing his high beams, and revving his engine. After this went on for a couple of blocks I swerved over to the empty lane and spread my arms open and yelled something about going around us in the empty lane. After I swung back into our lane he accelerated from at least a couple of car lengths back, at what I think was full throttle in a full size Cadillac sedan and smashed into me. Luckily he hit me square-on from the rear. Totally taco'd the rear wheel and transmitted so much energy through me that I was super sore the next day, but since the impact was from directly behind me I actually didn't go down.

The Seattle police officer that responded to our 911 call refused to put out an APB on him and his car, despite the fact that I had several witnesses in addition to us five cyclists and we had his license plate number. AND after hitting me with the car, he backed up, swung the car around us to park in front of us, and flew out of the car running at us on foot. He managed to punch two of us in the face as he ran past as we were stopped, straddling our bikes, stunned from him having tried to run me over. After that he ran back to his car, hopped in and sped away. Despite having the license plate number of the car all the police offered was for me to look through piles of mug shot photo albums. Part of the reason I don't have any respect for the police in this city.